Bottle closure



March 1 ,1927. 1,619,136 w. H. KNOWLES BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed May 8, 1924INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 1, 1927.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM H. KNOWLES, OF PORT CHESTER, YORK.

BOTTLE CLO-SURE.

Application filed May 8, 1924. Serial 110. 711,775.

This invention relates to receptacle closures, and is particularlyadapted for use in connection with containers having the commonlyaccepted characteristics of milk and cream bottles An object of animproved device of the character described, by which a receptacle may beclosed and sealed in such a manner as to 'be free from dust and erms. I

A further ob ect is that of providing a device of this type, which whenonce sealed may not be surreptitiously-opened and resealed withoutdetection.

A still further object is that of constructing a closure capable ofready application to or removal from a receptacle.

Another object is that of providing an article of the type stated whichwill efliciently perform the purposes for WlllCh it is intended, andwhich will also be economically and readily manufactured and assembled.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessingthe fea-- tures, properties, and. the relation of elements which will beexemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing. in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of the improved closure andshowing the parts of the same in open position;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device as shown in Fig. 1; 1

Fig. 3 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating the articlewith its parts in closed or sealed position.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the closure as shown in Fig. 3 and I Fig.5 -is an enlarged sectional and fragmentary view and showing a certaindetail of construction: 1

It will be noted that in the illustrated embodiment the invention hasbeen depicted as being in the nature of a closure such as isparticularly used in connection with milk.

bottles and similar receptacles. While the invention is primarilydedicated to this purtliis invention is to provide pose, it is to behere understood that the closure might, if desirable, be changed inconstruction, and if necessary, diiferentmaterials might also beemployed in order to adapt the invention to other uses.

Thus, in the aforedescribed views, it will be seen that the referencenumeral 1 indicates in the present instance a cap or shell of tearableand preferably fiexible material, as V i for example, paper, thin metal,etc., etc.

It will be understood that this cap. is of suflicient slze toaccommodate within its body those portions of the receptacle 2 which aare adjacent the mouth thereof, and thus it Wlll be apparent that thecap ma be applied to and removed from t e receptacle.

Now, with a view of providing means which will serve to incorporate inthe closure qualities by means of which a tight seal will be assured, itwill be, observed that the u per readily face of the cap may bedished,.as has n indicated at 2?. As a consequence. an'.in-- wardlyextending portion is provided within the interior of the cap body, andif the circumference of the side wall of'this dished portion issubstantially equal to thecircumference of the receptacle mouth, it willbe apparent that upon the cap being applied to the receptacle neck theinwardly extending portion of the cap will act as a stopper and thusprevent the fluid from escaping from the receptacle mouth.

It will be observed that the body of the cap also includes in thepresent-instance, downwardly extending side walls 4, and it will'beappreciated that after the closure has been applied to the receptacleand if a slight downward pull is imparted to these side walls that thisaction will necessarily result (due to the'fact that the entire cap isof somewhat flexible material), in a pull being transmitted to the sidewall and base of the dished portion of the cap, which will tend to causethese parts to ride upwardly toward the outer end. or mouth of thereceptacle. This tendency of the parts to act in the 'man ner specifiedwill primarily be manifest, to

the greatest extent, by the side walls of the cup portion being drawnoutwardl rather than upwardly, due to the fact, as as been indicated at3, that the cap is necessarily corrugated or crimped at this point, andas a consequence this action .will result in an intimate engagementbeing eflected between the adjacent faces of the receptacle and cap.

' downwardly extending walls 4 of the cap, a

tight sealing will be effected, not alone between the inner faces of thecap proper and the outer face of the receptacle neck. but also thestopper portion of the cap will be expanded to cause the side walls ofthe latter to form a fluid tight seal by intimately bearing against theinner face of the receptacle neck adjacent the upper end of the latter.

With a view of providing means for effecting this seating of the parts,it will be observed that the downwardly extending walls 4 of the cap arecontinued in the present instance in the form of an outwardly extendingflange 5, and attached to this flange is a constricting element whichserves to circumferentially compress the cap. This elementv may be inthe nature of a wire or resilient ring 6 which has one of itsendspiercing the flange 5 as at 10 and extending beyond the same as at7, its body being disposed substantially adjacent to the upper face ofthe flange while its opposite end terminates in a prong 11, which may beextended through the flange as at 8, in a manner hereinafter described.

The article is furnished to the user in the form shown in Figs. land 2,i. e., one end of the constricting element is permanently attached tothe cap while the body of this element extends eccentrically relativethere to. Assuming that it is desired to close the receptacle, the capis applied to the mouth and neck thereof, subsequent to which the prong11 of the constricting element is brought to a position adjacent thepoint 7, and .by means of the operators fingers. or by means of asuitable tool, this prong is forced through the flange 5, and properlybent rearwardly as has been indicated in Fig. 5 in order to lock theparts. As the free end of the constricting and locking member is drawntowards its fixed end, the inner edge thereof will bear against theouter face of the cap and thus cause the inner face of the side walls 4to bear against the outer face of the bottle neck.

It will be understood upon the initial application of the cap to themouth of the receptacle that the stopper portion of the former willextend into the mouth of the latter. It is here to be noted that thereceptacle is preferably formed adjacent its mouth with a curved lip,and the ringwill lie adjacent the same. Thus, upon the constrictingmember being actuated, it will be obvious, due to the fact that themovements of the latter are limited by means of the flange 5, that thewalls 4 will tend to move inwardly and downwardly incident to the forceexerted upon them, and this latter action will result in the stopperportion 2 of the cap being expanded to intimately engage the inner faceof the mouth of the receptacle so that a tight seal will be formed, ashas been afore brought out.

In addition to all the foregoing, however, and irrespective of whetherthe stopper portion is utilized or not, the constricting member willserve to lock the cap upon the neck of the receptacle, and due to thefact that the length of this element is preferably insufiicient tocompletely encircle the walls 4, it will be obvious that upon the end 11of the ring being forced through the flange 5, the constricting member.according to the present construction, will be disposed concentricallyrelative to the receptacle neck, and a space 9 will exist between theends of. the ring, which space may be suitably indicated, as forexample, by a mark 12.

The ends of the locking member are thus joined together by materialwhich may readily be torn or ruptured by any suitable means such as theoperators fingers, a fork prong, knife point, etc. etc., so that thespace indicated at 9 might be termed the rupture point of the closure.In this connection it is of interest to note, in order that the capmaynot-be prematurely loosened, that it is preferable that the space 9 asin Fig. 5, shall be as free as possible from wrinkles, crimps, etc.

Thus, if the user desires to open the clo-. sure, this may readily beaccomplished simply by suitably rupturing the flange 5 through the space9. This action will obviously result in the ends of the constrictingmember being freed to move away from each other, and since the materialof the cap has now been torn, it will be obvious that the cap may notagain be used for the reason that it will be apparent to an observerthat the olosure has been previously opened.

In conclusion, it will be appreciated that the closure may incorporatethe stopper feature without necessarily utilizing a retaining element ofthe nature shown, and from the foregoing it will be understood that theobjects of this invention have been accom- 'plished, and since certainchanges may be made in the above article and different embodiments ofthe invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, itis intended that all matter contained in the above description or shownin the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and notin a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. A closure including in combination a body of flexible material, andmeans for securing said closure to a receptacle, said means having oneend permanently attached to said body its opposite end being movablerelatively thereto. Y I

2. A device of the character described,- comprising in combination, abottle cap of impervious tearable material, a split'metallic ringassociated with said cap to retain the same in place and to close themouth of a bottle, the ends of said ring being separated and fixedlysecured'to'the material of said cap, whereby said cap may be removed bythe rupture thereof at a point between the ends of the ring.

3. A device of the character described, comprising in combination, abottle cap having a depending portion, a flange extending outwardly fromsaid portion, and a split metallic ring having its ends extendingthrough said flange.

4. A closure, including, in combination, a cap and a locking ringtherefor, said cap having a downwardly-extending skirt presentingcrimped and uncrimped portions, said ring encircling said skirt andhaving its ends separated from each other and secured to said skirtadjacent the uncrimped portion thereof.

5. A closure, including, in combination, a cap having a skirt, and alocking ring of insufficient length to encircle said skirt, said ringbeing applied around said skirt and having its ends moved toward eachother to constrict the same, said ends being secured to said skirt.

6. A closure, including, in combination, a cap and a locking rintherefor, sa d cap having a skirt of tearable material, said ring beingof insuflicient legth to encircle said skirt and having its ends securedthereto and separated from each other to provide a rup= ture point, saidclosure having an indicating mark defining said point of rupture.

7. A closure, including, in combination, a cap, a skirt extendingdownwardly therefrom, an outwardly-extending flange at the lower edge ofsaid skirt, a ring having one of itsends anchored to said flange, itsbody resting upon the upper face thereof, its opposite end beinginitially unattached to said cap and being adapted to pierce said flangeto retain said closure in applied position upon the mouth of areceptacle. I

8. A closure; including, in combination, a skirted cap, a split ring ofinsuflicient length to encircle said cap, the ring ends being drawntoward each other to constrict the cap skirt, said ring being retainedagainst axial movement with respect to said skirt.

9. A closure, including, in combination, a skirted cap, a. split ringhaving one of its ends permanently secured against movement with respectto the cap, its body encircling the skirt thereof, the length of saidring being insuflicient to enclose the cap skirt, and the free endthereof being drawn toward the opposite end of the same and lockedagainst movement with respect to the skirt cap.

10. A closure, including, in combination, a cap formed with adownwardly-extending skirt, a split ring applied to said skirt and ofinsuflicient length to encircle the same, the

ends of.said ring being initially relatively movable and being adaptedto be drawn towards,.an'd locked against movement with respect to eachother whereby to retain said closliure in applied position upon thereceptac e.

11. A closure, including, in combination, a

cap and a split locking ring therefor, said cap having a skirt and anoutwardly-extending flange adjacent the lower edge of said skirt, saidring having one of its ends passing through said flange, the other endof said ring being movable with respect to the firstnamed end and beingadapted to be drawn towards the same and to be extended throu b saidflange and bent rearwardly to lock t e parts in position.

12. A closure, including, in combination, a cap and a split locking ringtherefor, said cap having a skirt and an outwardly-extending flangeadjacent the lower edge of said skirt, said ring having one of its endspassing through said flange at a point adjacent the juncture of the samewith said skirt, the other end of said ring being movable with respectto the first-named end and being adapted to be-drawn towards the sameand to be extended through said flange and bent rearwar'dl to lock theparts in position.

13. A c osure, including, in combination, a cap formed with adownwardly-extending skirt and a substantially rigid outstanding flangeat the'lower end of said skirt, a split ring having one of its endsextending through said cap at a point adjacent the flange and skirtportions, the body of said ring encircling said cap, the opposite end ofsaid ring being drawn toward the first-named end thereof to constrictthe cap skirt and being extended through the cap at a. oint adjacent theflange and skirt portions t oreof to lock it against movement withrespect to the first ring end.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM H. KNOWLES.

